Show Me How It's Done
by appliiex
Summary: AU. When Detective Kairi Hart is offered a once in a lifetime promotion, she doesn't hesitate to accept it. She just has to infiltrate a secret organisation that is potentially dangerous and could easily make her disappear off the face of the world. Easy, right?
1. Let's play Cops and Robbers

**_Chapter 1: Let's play Cops and Robbers_**

 ** _-x-_**

 _"Na, na! You can't catch me!" A five year old boy with brown spiky hair taunted as he raced ahead of the girl chasing him. He turned around and stuck his tongue out. "You're too slow, piggy!"_

 _"Shut up, you porcupine!" The little girl yelled at him from behind. Though they were the same age and he was a boy, she always wanted to be the cop. No matter how much faster he was, she_ was _the good guy_. _Her red-wine hair flew in the wind and her shoes sank into the sand with every step she took. Huffing, she stopped and kicked them off, landing them underneath the Paopu tree that they had just passed. Grinning, she sprinted quicker to catch the boy in front of her. As she caught up, she reached out to grab his shirt. "Almost got you now!"_

 _Just as she was about to close her hand around his sleeve, the boy turned around and stopped, making her bump into his chest. He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before wiping his lips and racing off again. "Little piggy, hurry up!"_

 _The girl, stunned, blushed immediately and fell to the ground. She touched her cheek and frowned. "That's not fair! You gave me cooties!"_

 _He paused in his tracks and looked back. With a smirk on his face he asked, "are you giving up already?"_

 _"Never!" Determination ignited in her eyes she threw him a fierce glare and pointed her index finger at him. "Get back here you-"_

"-son of a bitch!"

A teenager wearing a black balaclava turned his head back at the now twenty-three year old red-wine haired cop chasing him and pushed himself to run even faster. A small laced with silk was slung around him and bounced against his chest with every step he took. "What the hell are you?!" He threw the nearest standing garbage bin to the ground, spilling it's contents all over the pavement.

"You think that would stop me, huh?" She jumped over the rubbish without reducing her speed. "You thought wrong! I'm Kairi Goddamn Hart, you piece of crap!"

"Go away, you whore!" The boy yelled back at her.

"What did you call me?!"

"Stop following me!" The man skidded a corner right into an alleyway.

"Wrong move, asshole!" She followed in pursuit and saw him come face to face with a wall. It was a dead end. She smirked as she pushed her fringe out of her face and tightened her ponytail. "Well, well, well. Would you look at that? There's nowhere to run now."

"I don't think so." In a desperate attempt he unsheathed a knife from his pocket and held it in front of him.

"Woah, hey. Easy now." The woman stopped in her tracks and held her hands up. "Don't be an idiot."

"One step closer and I _swear_ I will use this!"

"Do you even know how to use it?"

"Don't patronize me!"

"Hey, just calm down, okay?" The woman took a small step closer. "Your name is Hope, right?"

"H-How'd you know that?" The young boy stuttered as he started to shake nervously. Light green-blue eyes started to dart in all directions. He saw her move closer and held his knife back up. "I said, don't move, _bitch_!"

She ignored him and took another step. "I know all about you. Hope Estheim. 14 years old. A straight 'A' student in Destiny High School. Furthermore, you're the captain of the soccer team. Pretty impressive, don't you think?"

"So what?" He frowned. Sweat started to pour down his neck.

"What's a smart kid like you doing on the streets?"

"That's none of your business."

The woman took a cautious step closer. "Your parents miss you, you know."

"That's the biggest bull shit I've ever heard!" He whipped off his mask, revealing his short spiky silver locks. Fire fumed in his eyes as he shot her a furious glare. "They don't care about me! My whole life has been nothing but a blur to them no matter what I do. My grades, my skills, my friends, not once did they even acknowledge any of that. So, why would they care now?"

"You're wrong." A scurry of footsteps was heard behind her but she quickly held a palm up as if to say 'stay back, I got this.' She kept her lilac eyes focused on the younger boy's own teal ones. "They've always cared."

"Ha! You think you know so much about me and my family but you don't. Just stay out of my life, okay?" The boy snorted. "I came to my own conclusion; what's the point in being good when I can be bad?"

Unexpectedly, she burst out laughing. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Huh?"

"Did you even think this through? Running away from home with no money and shoplifting from every store in the precinct. Furthermore, you just stole a handbag from one of the richest sugar daddies, who I believe will hunt you down no matter what the cost is. And besides that, do you know what a record can do to your future?" She was standing face to face with him now. Her height was towering over him and the the knife was pointed at her chest. "What the _hell_ were you thinking?"

"I... I..." The boy looked away. "I just wanted them to look at me."

"Hope, they _are_ looking at you. They have always been." She laid a hand on his shoulder. "Everything they do is for you. For your future, your happiness. The sacrifices they make by working all the time just to give you a better future than their own. Did you know your mother keeps a photo of you in her wallet? She showed me it today at the station."

Hope looked up, a slight look of belief shimmered in his eyes. He lowered the knife and clenched it in his hand. "She did? She's not at work?"

"That's right. Your parents have been sitting in the station worried sick these last two days."

"They would never leave work... especially not for me..."

"Fine, if you don't believe me you can come and see for yourself." She shrugged. "Don't you miss them?"

It was the moment she had been waiting for. She saw the boy drop his head and furrowed his eye brows before looking back at her. "I-I do." His voice broke as he wiped a stray tear that was threatening to fall.

She gave him a small smile. "Well, let's go and see them then. But first I need you to drop the knife, okay?"

"Okay." He let go of the weapon and it landed point down.

She ruffled his hair and lead him out. "You're a good kid, you know that?"

As they both exited the alleyway they were met with several police officers who were waiting for them. A few of them gave a grin and a nod to the woman. Two patrol cars were parked at the curb and a small crowd had formed around them. The woman walked in front of the boy, shielding him from the crowd's curious eyes and glared at them. "Nothing to see here! Get moving, people!"

A blonde spiky haired officer came towards them and patted the boy on the back. "Just stick with me, kid."

"Hope!"

The trio turned their heads towards a middle aged woman who stepped out of one of the patrol cars. She had silver shoulder-length hair and her green eyes were filled with relief as she came running towards them. Her hair looked like it hadn't been washed for days, her mascara was smudged and her business attire was crinkled. But that didn't stop her from reaching out to her son. She fell to her knees in front of the boy and hugged him. "My boy! My sweet little boy. Are you okay?"

Hope froze on the spot. "Mom..." he uttered softly.

"I was _so_ worried about you!" She held his shoulders and studied his face. "Why would you do something like this?"

"Mom, I'm-" he voice cracked once again, "-I'm sorry, Mom! I'm _so_ sorry!"

"That's okay, hun. I'm here, Hope. I'm here." She hugged him as she continued to whisper soothing words of reassurance in his ear.

The two detectives looked at each other as they took a step back to leave the family to have their moment. The blonde folded his arms across his chest and grinned while shaking his head. "Detective Kairi Hart, you've done it again."

"Done what?" She grinned back at him as she smoothed down her suit. "And where was my partner? All of this chasing could've been avoided if he was at my side rather than buying a hot dog."

"Hey! I was hungry!" He stuck out his tongue. "And Kairi, please. If I wasn't here you would be doing so much better. I mean, you brought justice back to the Islands, saved the helpless from the unknown, and now, reunited families back together."

"Ah, that sounds about right. But you're wrong about the latter." Kairi sighed as she pushed her fringe back from her face. She looked at the family with a sad look. "Roxas, where's the Dad?"

A grim line appeared on his face. "He couldn't make it."

"Couldn't or _didn't_ want to make it?"

"Either way, the reason was because of work."

"Damn it." She clenched her teeth. "What kind of father doesn't care about his own son?"

"Hey, Kai. Don't take it personally. Remember, you caught the boy and brought him back to his mother. That's the most important thing right now."

She sighed. "You're right. I hate it when you're right." They started walking back towards the duo and she placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt, guys, but we have to take Hope back to the station."

"Can I come with him?" The mother asked as she wiped away her tears.

"Of course." Kairi smiled and turned towards the boy. "Hope, listen to me very carefully. I need you to follow my partner, Roxas, back to the station. He will be asking you a lot of questions and try to answer them honestly, okay? You have the right to have an attorney present as well as your parents there with you for support. Do you understand?"

"Yeah..." Hope frowned.

She slapped his back and helped him up. "'Atta boy! Don't worry, Roxas won't bite." She winked at him.

"Hard." Roxas played along.

"But first I need that handbag back." Kairi held her hand out.

"Oh yeah, here." He took it off and placed it in her hands.

"Thanks. Now, be a good boy and get out of here." She lead them towards a patrol car, with Roxas taking the driver's seat.

"You're not coming with us?" Roxas asked as he fasten his seat belt.

"Nope. I need to get rid of the knife back in the alley way and plus," she groaned, "I've got to return this back to Yuna. She better thank me after all this crap I've been put through. I'll meet you back at the station later."

He saluted her off. "See ya later, Kai."

Kairi hit the back of the car two times before watching it disappear into the next street. The crowd before had now dispersed and the other police officers had left when they saw that the situation was not in any risk of danger. She sighed as she turned back to the alleyway, mentally preparing herself for the mess she would have to clean up.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Doneeee! The amount of times I had to look up 'hope' in the thesaurus is astounding because I couldn't write sentences like 'Hope had hope'. LOL.

Please excuse any grammatical mistakes. I hope this chapter wasn't _too_ short and confusing. There will be a longer chapter next time! I promise. :P

See you guys next time! :)


	2. Highwind

_**Chapter 2: Highwind**_

 _ **-x-**_

Several hours passed by and Kairi sat at her desk finishing the paperwork she had left to do to close the case. She looked up at the tim: 7:59PM. She smiled as she stood up and stretched her limbs. _'It's been a long day'_ , she mentally thought to herself.

She heard footsteps coming closer to her cubicle and soon an excited voice called out, "hey Kai!"

"What's up?" She replied, not bothering to look up at owner of the voice. She knew that tone all too well.

"Wha- do I even need to ask?" Roxas gave her a questioning look as he saw her kneeling with her head on the ground in a worshiping position. As he saw her peering up and shooting him a deathly glare, he continued to talking. "Anyway, a few of the guys are going out for drinks after work. Wanna come?"

"Hmm... maybe." She replied as she jumped back up to a normal stance and rolled her neck around. Roxas winced as he heard the loud crack it made. "Is the captain going?"

"Um, I haven't asked yet." Roxas grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'll do it now-"

"No, let me!" Kairi chirped in quickly. Her cheeks heated up as she saw Roxas raising his eyebrows. "I mean, I haven't seen him all day. I need to report to him anyway."

"Yeah, whatever you say, Kai." Roxas laughed and started to leave. "Go get your Romeo. I'll meet you outside."

Kairi brushed off his comment and made her way to the closed office at the end of the station, saying her greetings to her co-workers that was on the night duty. Walking towards his office always gave her goosebumps. A sign saying ' _Vanitas Strife_ ' was printed on the glass door and she rapped her knuckles against the door several times while waited patiently outside. The door opened, revealing a black spiky haired man dressed in a well-fitting suit. Even though it has been over a year since he started working at the station, she still couldn't control her unsteady heart at the mere sight of him. The glance of his golden eyes on her own took her breath away. She could not deny that he was an attractive man. He had a stern look on his face as he asked in a bored voice, "what can I do for you, detective?"

She coughed softly and quickly composed herself. "Just wanted to report that the paperwork for the Hope Estheim case has been completed and I will put it on your desk tomorrow morning. Are-" she looked over his shoulder and saw another figure in his office. It was an older male with a grey goatee in a dark suit. She couldn't identify specific features of his face but he also shared the same golden eyes as the captain. His eyes focused on her and she could tell that he was _smiling_. A chill ran down her spine as she turned her attention back towards her captain. "Are you busy at the moment?"

"I am." He followed her gaze to his guest in his office and stepped out of his office, closing the door behind him. "Let's continue our discussion out here. What else do you have to report to me?"

"I, er," she bit her lip, "was wondering if you would like to go out for a drink? I mean, Roxas and the other guys are going too so it won't just be us. And it's a Friday night so it's good to have knockoffs every now and again." She started to ramble as she did not want to make her intention obvious. Her cheeks were tinted with a pink hue as she waited for his response.

His serious demeanor instantly vanished as he laughed softly. "Sorry, detective. I'll be in a meeting with my visitor for a very long time. I'm afraid I will have to turn down your offer."

Kairi's heart instantly fell but she quickly regained her prior cheery attitude. "That's alright. Maybe next time, okay?" She started to walk away.

"Detective Hart, wait."

She turned around at the mention of her name. "What is it?"

"Roxas explained to me the details about your success earlier. Good work today, detective." The Captain smiled, revealing his perfect set of white teeth. He reached out and patted her head, messing up her hair in the mean time. "Don't forget about the meeting tomorrow. Have a good night."

Kairi felt her insides warm and her lips curved upwards on reflex. "See you in the morning, Vanitas."

Once he returned inside, she walked back to the entrance of the station where Roxas was. He was leaning against the wall, laughing with two other officers. His head perked up as he saw her figure descending down the stairs. "Ready to go, Kai?"

"Sorry boys, but I'm going to sit out tonight." Kairi smiled, still dazed by the encounter before.

Roxas' jaw dropped. "What! Why? Is it because of the captain?"

"What? No!" Kairi waved her hand in front of her as if the accusation was a physical fly. "I'm just tired."

"Bull crap, Kairi!" Hayner, the short wavy dirty blonde haired office, smirked. "The captain is not going so that's why you're not going. We all know you have the hots for him."

"Oi, shut up, Hayner!" She slapped his shoulder before pouting and narrowing her eyes into slits. "I do not."

The guys laughed loudly, obviously knowing that it was a lie. Hayner placed his arm around her shoulders and winked. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

"For now." She rolled her eyes.

"Are you seriously not coming?" Roxas asked, his eyes pleaded with hers silently. She shot him back a stern look and he got the message.

"Yeah, Kairi, come _onnn~_ " the other officer, Pence, persisted. "It'll be fun! We need to video Hayner drinking out of a toilet this time!"

"What?!"

Kairi frowned. "No thanks, I'm totally okay with missing out on that."

"Don't be a hater!"

"But Kairi-"

"Knock it off you two!" The blonde slapped the back of the officers heads. "If Kairi doesn't want to come she doesn't have to. Stop annoying her and let's just go." He gave her a cheery smile as he waved her off. "See you tomorrow, Kai."

"Bye, Kairi!"

"Remember; no regrets! It's your own fault on missing out!" Hayner called out before running to catch up with the other two ahead of him.

"Have a good time, guys." She yelled at them before walking away herself. She could hear them arguing in the distance and grinned to herself. It wasn't like the captain had _that_ much of an influence on her decision at all. Okay, that was a total lie. He had made a huge impact on her. But she knew it was more fun if the captain had joined in and his rejection affected her deeply. She only hoped that her disappointment didn't show on her face when she heard his response.

Kairi finally got back home and her apartment welcomed her with silence. She flicked the lights on and instantly made her way towards the lounge, flopping herself on the couch as she found herself turning on the television. A news report was broadcasting on the screen but she didn't pay attention to it as she checked out her emails on her phone.

 _'Breaking news: a 600 year old golden artifact has just been stolen from the National Museum. It was a necklace belonging to Cleopatra herself with several golden jewels attached to it. The alarms has been disengaged and the culprit had drawn a circle in the glass to get the golden necklace. Security cameras are being reviewed at the moment as there had been no eye witnesses to the crime. The culprit has not been identified but police believe it to be a mysterious organization that had been stealing several other expensive artifacts from the other Worlds, and now our own hometown. If you see anything suspicious please help report it by dialing...'_

* * *

 _'Whoosh!'_

Kairi popped open her eyes suddenly and sat up. She had fallen asleep on the couch and the only light on was coming from the television screen. Her eyes scanned the room for any signs of movement but there was none. She was alone in her apartment. _'What was that noise?'_ she thought. Slowly, her head turned towards the balcony window. Her curtains were normally drawn but not today. She must have forgotten.

Not liking to take any risks, Kairi grabbed the metal baseball bat besides her door and made her way towards the balcony. Confidently, she opened the door and stepped one foot out. Then the other. Her whole body was soon embracing the night's shadow. It was still. She looked left, right, up and down. Hold on, she had to do a retake. She looked towards the ground again and saw something shining up at her. It was a tiny golden jewel. She picked it up and held it at eye level, closely examining it. _'I don't have anything as expensive as this, where did it come from?_ ' she thought to herself. She looked back up to her neighbor. _'Maybe Mr. Phil dropped it? Or maybe one of his lovers didn't like the jewelry he gave her and threw it over the balcony?_ She laughed at the thought. _'Nah that can't be.'_

The red-wine hair detective glanced across the edge of the balcony to the big eucalyptus tree growing opposite her. Her lilac eyes focused to one of the branches, waiting for the worst as she clenched the metal bat harder. She knew that this was the part where the murderer would come out in horror movies once she turned her back towards the tree they would attack. A movement from the branch alerted her as she held the bat up and took a defensive stance, only to find a squirrel scurrying out of the branch and running down the tree. Kairi let out a sigh of relief as her muscles relaxed. She laughed at herself for being silly and went back inside her apartment, making sure to draw the curtains this time.

* * *

"Good morning everyone!" Kairi exclaimed loudly as she made her way into the precinct. She was carrying a folder in one hand and a large cup of coffee in the other.

At the meeting table a few co-workers greeted her back. Her blonde hair partner looked up and groan. So did the officer next to him. He shot her a dirty look before cradling his head on the table. "Be quiet, Kairi. Your voice is way too annoying in the morning."

"Sorry? I didn't quite catch that, Hayner." The detective grinned as she sat next to him. "Maybe you should SPEAK UP." She yelled the last part.

"Ah, no! Stop it!" He swatted his hands at her but she dodged it easily.

"Wakey wakey, big boy." Kairi smiled and tapped his head. Only when he was hungover she had an advantage over him. "We have a big day in front of us."

"Kairi! If you annoy me one more time I swear I will-"

"Stop it, you two! The meeting will start in a minute." A deep voice boomed over them.

They both looked up and saw their captain glaring sternly down at them. They let go of each other and sat back down, a guilty looked plastered on their faces. "Sorry, sir." They replied in unison.

"Sorry I'm late!" Pence came rushing in, slamming his folder on the table and fell into his chair. He wiped off the sweat from his brow and "The meeting hasn't started yet, right?"

"Fortunate for you, it hasn't." Vanitas replied. He looked over the table and saw that all members were present. "All members are counted and present? Olette, can you please on the projector for me?"

"It's already on, sir." A young woman with glasses and brunette locks replied cheerily.

"Oh, good. Let's make a start shall we?" A few responses in agreement were heard and the captain proceeded. "Good morning team. The crime rate has been slowly decreasing since the start of the year. Theft seems to be the flavor of the month but that is as serious as it has been. Keep up the good work everyone." Cheers went around the room, apart from the groans coming from the three men. Vanitas cleared his throat and waited for the noise to die down. "Before I proceed to the next item on the list, I'd like to introduce everyone to Xehanort."

An elderly figure from the back of the room slowly walked to where Vanitas was standing. His back was hunched over and a smirk was playing over his lips. ' _No doubt this was the ''visitor" in Vanitas' office last night'_ , Kairi thought to herself as she leaned back in her chair. She couldn't mistake those golden eyes anywhere. Vanitas placed a hand on his shoulder and turned to the members of the meeting. "He is one of the best federal agents in the world. He has solved several well known cases such as the Lost Empire and the Secondborn."

A few 'ooh's' and 'ahh's' echoed across the room.

"As some of you may have heard on the news, there has been many priceless items that has been stolen across several worlds. Unfortunately last night our town was struck. Xehanort is the senior agent following this case since the beginning and that's why he is here to brief all of you on the case."

"Thank you, Captain." Xehanort took the center as well as the clicker from Vanitas and pushed it to reveal the next slide, showing a golden necklace with several jewels attached to it. Kairi gasped as she recalled the jewel she found the night before at her apartment. "This is the golden necklace worn by Cleopatra herself. An artifact that was stolen last night from the National Museum. Officer Fuu who was at the scene last night believes that the culprits who did it had bugged all of the alarms, thus none of it went off when they took the necklace and it went undetected by the security guards. The culprit has cleaned up after themselves as the crime scene was left with no evidence. But by following the patterns from the reports, we believe that the culprits are from a secret organisation called 'Highwind'. They were first detected in Radiant Gardens, then Traverse Town, and now, Destiny Islands."

"Normally, the case is assigned to the federal agents as Highwind is an international case. However, we would like you all to keep a look out for them." The elderly man clicked for the next slide, showing a black coat with silver zippers and a hood. "The members of this organisation all wear a black coat specifically similar to the one on screen. They would normally wear the hood on, hiding their identity from the public. If you see anyone wearing this coat please bring them in for questioning. It is not a big organisation but there is a leader. The only witness who have seen him has told us that he can be easily identified by a silver crown necklace around his neck. They are known to be armed and are very dangerous. On one of their crimes in Radiant Garden, all the guards were left unconscious and some are still recovering from their injuries. And on another occasion, all the security guards were missing from the scene. No one knew where they went and are still missing to this day. We believe the organisation had personally kidnapped and dealt with them in another location. It is fortunate that no one was hurt last night. Therefore, we _cannot_ take any chances that could possibly harm the people of Destiny Islands. Any questions?"

Silence.

His golden eyes lit up. "Excellent. My team will be arriving in a few days to scope out the location for any leading evidence and will be here until we believe that the organisation has moved locations again."

"I know that every single member here will do their best to help the agents on this case." Vanitas added as he looked towards the police congregation, his own golden eyes filled with determination. "And with everyone's help, I believe that we will see the organisation ending their crimes here on Destiny Islands and be locked up behind bars."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

I couldn't think of any other name for the organisation. Please forgive me. :P

Thanks for reading guys :)


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